Wrapping machines



1966 J. H. A. s. LAGESSE 3,251,171

WRAPPING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 31, 1963 Inventor J/XAS. Lagesse Attorneys y 1966 J. H. A. s. LAGESSE 3,251,1711

WRAPPING MACHINES Filed July 31, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor J/zAS Lages ttorneys United States Patent 3,251,171 WRAPPING MACHINES Joseph Henri Alfred Serge Lagesse, Wembley, England,

assrgnor to Tape Engineering Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain Filed July 31, 1963, Ser. No. 299,024 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 1, 1962, 29,544/ 62 16 Claims. (Cl. 53-66) This invention relates to a wrapping machine for enclosing a roll in wrapping material, the term roll" being used in a broad sense to include any article having a generally cylindrical shape or an assembly of articles (for example a number of discs) collectively having a generally cylindrical shape. It is usual for wrapping such a roll, first to wrap the paper or other wrapping material around the peripheral surface of the roll into the form of a tube, which closely surrounds the roll, the ends of the roll being closed either by separate end caps or more usually by folding projecting ends of such tube against the ends of the roll and applying a seal, for example an adhesive seal, at each end to secure such folded ends in place. In some instances, it may sutfice to wrap only the peripheral surface of the roll, leaving the ends unwrapped.

The present invention is primarily concerned with the wrapping of the wrapping material around the peripheral surface of the roll, whether or not the ends are subsequently closed, and has for its object to provide a simple and elficient mechanism for effecting such peripheral wrapping, which is readily adjustable to suit any diameter of roll within a predetermined wide range of diameters.

The wrapping machine according to the present invention includes in combination a gauging device for measuring the diameter of the roll to be wrapped, a wrapping well having relatively movable side walls, means whereby the gauging device causes relative movement between the side walls of the well to position them to suit the diameter of the roll, means for feeding the .roll from the gauging device into the well, means for causing the wrapping material-to extend across the path of the roll whereby the roll will carry the wrapping material with it into the well, thereby causing the wrapping material to be closely wrapped around the lower portion of the periphery of the roll, and means for completing the wrapping of the peripheral surface of the roll.

The two side walls of the well are preferably parallel to one another and remain parallel during the positioning relative movement. Although one of the side walls of the well may remain stationary, the other side Wall being moved to a distance from it equal to the diameter of the roll to be wrapped, it will usually be preferable to maintain the centre plane of the well constant, the two side walls performing movements which have equal and opposite components in the direction at right angles to the centre plane.

The roll may conveniently be fed to the well down an inclined ramp, the lower part of which lies above a movable side wall of the well, at least part of such ramp being withdrawn following operation of the gauging device to permit the roll to be correctly fed to the well. Such movable part of the inclined ramp may be carried by the movable well wall beneath it, the positioning movement of such wall taking place in an inclined direction corresponding to the inclination of the ramp.

The supply of wrapping material for the roll may be effected in various ways. Thus, a piece of wrapping material of length appropriate to the circumference of the roll may be positioned across the top of the well prior to the feeding of the roll from the gauging device "ice into the well, and in such case the piece of wrapping material may be cut to length from a supply web by a cutting device positioned in accordance with the operation of the gauging device. It will usually be preferable, however, for the wrapping material to be drawn from a supply reel, the free end thereof being held by a clamping device during the downward movement of the roll into the well, so that the roll itself takes from the supply reel as much wrapping material as it needs to suit its circumference, a cutting device being provided for cutting the wrapping material to length at an appropriate stage after the roll has completed such downward movement.

Whilst the feeding .of the web of wrapping material from the supply reel may be effected in other ways, it is preferably controlled by a retractable head which, when withdrawn, lies clear of the path of the roll from the gauging device into the well on the side of such path remote from the clamping device. Such arrangement, in itself, forms the subject of the present applicants concurrent United States patent application Serial No. 298,- 046, filed July 29, 1963.

The downward movement of the roll into the Well is preferably arrested in a wrapping position, which is determined by operation of the gauging device and in which the top of the roll lies substantially at a fixed datum level, whatever the diameter of the roll may be. The completion of the wrapping of the upper portion of the peripheral surface of the roll is preferably effected in this wrapping position and, when the retractable head and clamping device are employed, this may conveniently be effected by first releasing the free end of the web of wrapping material from the clamping device and folding it over part of the upper portion of the roll surface by a folder member or members, the peripheral wrapping being completed by movement of the retractable head into its advanced position, in which it lies close above the top of the well. It is preferable, prior to completion of the wrapping of the upper portion of the roll surface, to exert inward pressure on at least one of the walls of the well, to clamp the roll against movement and to maintain tight enclosure of the lower portion of the roll surface by the wrapping material. The cutting device is preferably operated, when the retractable head is in its advanced position, to sever the web of wrapping material at a position such that the severed end will overlap the free end of the web in the neighbourhood of the top of the roll, such overlapping edges being sealed in position by the application of adhesive ta e.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways, but some convenient constructions of wrapping machine according thereto are illustrated, by way of example, in a accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of one simple form of machine in which the wrapping material is cut to length before being wrapped around the roll,

FIGURE 2 illustrates one way of completing the peripheral wrapping of the roll in the construction of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 shows somewhat diagrammatically another construction (incorporating also the invention of the concurrent patent application above-mentioned), in which the wrapping material is drawn from a supply reel during wrapping of the roll and is cut when the peripheral wrapping has beencompleted,

FIGURES 4 and 5 indicate different operative positions of the parts in the construction of FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 6 illustrates a modification of the construction of FIGURE 3.

In the construction of FIGURES 1 and 2, the main parts of the wrapping machine comprise a gauging device for measuring the diameter of the roll to be wrapped; a vertical wrapping well whose side walls are adjustable under the control of the gauging device to suit the diameter of the roll, and wherein the lower part of the periphery of the roll is wrapped with the paper -or other wrapping material; means for feeding an appropriate length of wrapping material across the top of the well; an inclined ramp for feeding the roll from the gauging device to the well; and a conveyor device for controlling the wrapping of the remainder of the peripheral surface of the roll.

The roll to be wrapped, which may have any diameter within a predetermined range, the smallest and largest sizes being indicated at A and A respectively, is fed to the machine down an inclined ramp, which is formed in two parts B, B the lower part B being movable, as described below, whilst the upper part B is fixed. The roll to be wrapped is arrested in a gauging position on the fixed upper part B of the ramp, by a stop lever B pivoted to the ramp part B and operated by a pneumatic cylinder B The engagement of the roll with the stop lever B operates a trip device (not shown) for bringing the gauging device into operation.

The gauging device consists of a sensing plate D, which lies parallel to the inclined ramp B, B and is movable in a direction at right angles thereto, by means of a pneumatic ram D so as to engage with the surface of the roll and thus to measure the diameter thereof. The gauging device actuates a pneumatic control device D which when the gauging operation has been effected controls the setting of various parts of the machine in accordance with the roll diameter. The pneumatic control device may be of any of the known types capable of effecting pneumatic control in accordance with the extent of movement of an actuating element.

The vertical wrapping well has two parallel vertical side walls C and E, which are normally spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to the diameter of the smallest roll A in the predetermined range. One of these walls C (termed herein the inner wall) lies vertically beneath the lower edge of the lower part B of the inclined ramp and is movable therewith. The other wall E (the outer wall) similarly lies vertically beneath a guide bracket E and is movable therewith. The two walls C and E are caused to perform equal and opposite horizontal movements under the control of a pneumatic cylinder F, which directly operates the outer wall E and operates the inner wall C through a rod F and an equal-armed pivoted lever F the operation of the pneumatic cylinder being controlled by the pneumatic control device D so that the walls C and E are moved into new positions in which they are spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to the actual diameter of the roll to be wrapped. The vertical central plane of the well thus always remains in a fixed position. The walls C and B have hori zontal flanges C and E respectively connected to their upper edges to constitute a guide platform for the wrapping material, and to minimise frictional resistance the walls are mounted on wheels C and E running on fixed horizontal guide rails C and E The device for feeding the paper or other wrapping material over the .top of the vertical well C, E consists of a horizontally movable carriage G, carrying a rack G engaging with the larger of two pinions G G on a common axle on a bracket E carried by the outer well wall E, the smaller pinion G engaging with a fixed rack G The pinion G has a diameter 1r times that of the pinion G so that the carriage G is driven by the adjusting movement of the outer well wall B through a distance equal to sufficient for the desired overlap.

4;- predetermined range and d is the actual diameter of the roll to be wrapped. This ensures, as will be explained below, that the correct amount of wrapping material will be fed forward through the correct distance to suit the actual roll to be wrapped.

A web H of wrapping material is drawn by a pair of driving rollers H H mounted on the carriage G past a fixed guide roller H and a compensating roller H from a supply reel H a curved guide H being mounted on the carriage to guide the web H from the driving rollers H H to the platform formed by the flanges C E on the well walls, the end of the guide H being adjacent to a cutting device G mounted on the carriage. The two driving rollers H H are normally locked against rotation by a clamp (not shown), which is released when the well walls C, E and the carriage G have been properly set in position by the gauging device. The consequent operation of the driving rollers H H causes the web H of wrapping material to be fed forward across the top of the well, risk of the wrapping material going down into the well, instead of passing across it on to the inner wall flange C being prevented by one or more plungers F which at this stage occupy positions at the top of the well. The amount of wrapping material fed forward is controlled by a rack H engaging with a pinion 1-1 on the shaft of one of the driving rollers H The diameter of this pinion H relatively to that of the driving roller H is such that the amount of wrapping material fed forward is 211' times the linear travel of the rack H". This rack is normally heldagainst a stop E carried by the outer wall flange E by a spring H and the driving rollers H H are stopped when the rack H engages with a fixed trip device H The relative positions of the stop E and the trip device H are such that, in the position corresponding to the smallest roll A the travel of the rack H is slightly greater than the radius of such smallest roll, so that the amount of wrapping material fed forward exceeds the circumference of the roll by an amount It will be clear that the setting of the stop E in accordance with the diameter of the actual roll to be wrapped increases the feed of wrapping material to suit the circumference of such roll. The trip device H not only stops the driving rollers H H but also releases the pinion H from the shaft of the roller H thus permitting the rack H to reset itself under spring action to its starting position, the pinion H being re-engaged to the driving roller when the clamp is released to start the roller.

The cutting device G is mounted in such a position on the carriage G that in the normal position of the carriage, the cutting device is spaced from the central plane of the well by a distance slightly greater than 1r times the radius of the smallest roll A and it will be clear from the description above given of the carriage movement in accordance with the ope-ration of the gauging device that the cutting device will be set to a position slightly more than 1r times the radius of the actual roll from the central plane of the well. The cutting device is operated by a pneumatic cylinder G when the feed of wrapping material ceases, and thus cuts off the correct amount of wrapping material to suit the circumference of the roll, allowing for the overlap, the severed piece of Wrapping material lying symmetrically about the central plane of the well 'on the platform C E When the operations of setting the well walls in accordance with the roll diameter and feeding forward and cutting the wrapping material have been completed, the pneumatic cylinder B is operated to release the stop lever B which pivots down into a position in which it constitutes an extension of the upper part B of the inclined ramp. This releases the roll which runs down on to the top of the well. The plunger or plungers F are now lowered into the well by a pneumatic cylinder or cylinders F so that the roll falls into the well carrying the piece of wrapping material with it. This downward movement continues until theroll comes into engagement with a conveyer J in the base of the well (such conveyer being formed in parts between which the plunger or plungers F descend), the sides of the roll at the same' time coming into engagement with further conveyers J J The wrapping material at this stage is wrapped around the lower half of the roll with its ends extending upwardly close to the two well walls.

These conveyers act to move the roll lengthwise along the well, as is indicated in the diagrammatic plan view of. FIGURE 2. As the roll, with its wrapping, moves along the well the loose upper ends of the wrapping come into engagement with shaped wire guides J J which act to fold the ends down over the upper half of the roll so that the ends overlap one another on top of the roll. A strip of adhesive tape J drawn from a reel 1* is pressed into engagement with such overlapping ends to seal them in position, cutting means (not shown) being operated to sever the tape when the complete roll wrapping has been sealed.

It should be mentioned that, if the ends of the roll are also to be wrapped, the ends of the tube of wrapping material are preferably so formed around the peripheral surface of the roll as to project beyond the ends of the roll and are subsequently folded over and sealed against the ends of the roll by further devices, which may be incorporated in the complete machine or may be separate therefrom, but which form no part of the present invention. Such devices may for example be arranged in the manner forming the subject of the present applicants copending United States patent applications Serial Nos. 260,580, now Patent No. 3,200,564 and 271,227.

When the machine has completed the wrapping of an individual roll, such roll is appropriately discharged from the machine and at the same time the various parts of the machine are automatically reset to their normal positions in readiness for dealing with the next roll, the diameter of which may be widely different from that of the discharged roll, within the range of variation for which the machine is designed.

An alternative and preferred construction of wrapping machine according to the invention will now be described with reference to FIGURES 3-5. This construction differs from the foregoing construction in various respects, and especially in that the wrapping material, instead of being cut to length prior to the release of the roll into the well, is fed forward from the supply reel and gripped at its free end in a clamp beneath the inclined ramp at the end of the wrapping cycle for one roll in readiness for dealing with the next roll, so that the roll on release into the well takes with it as much wrapping material as it needs, the roll being arrested in a wrapping position within the upper part of the well, where not only the lower part of the periphery of the roll, but also the upper part thereof is enclosed in the wrapping material, before the material is cut from the supply web.

Whilst these modified functions can be performed in other ways, it is preferred to employ, in cooperation with the present invention, an invention which in itself forms the subject of a separate concurrent United States patent application Serial No. 298,046, filed July 29, 1963 in the name of the present applicant' An important feature of the invention of such concurrent application is a retractable head, which controls the feed of the wrapping material and has an advanced position and a withdrawn position, the wrapping material being caused to extend from one side of the feed path of the .roll to the other when the retractable head is in the withdrawn position, whereby the wrapping material is carried with the roll into the wrapping position and is thereby wrapped around a portion of the periphery of the roll.

In this construction, the roll A to be wrapped runs down the inclined ramp B, B into engagement with the front face of the retractable head L, and in doing so operates a trip device (not shown) for bringing the ganging device intooperation. The gauging device is arranged in the same manner as in the foregoing construction (except that it is now located over the lower part B of the inclined ramp, which is no longer provided with the stop lever). The pneumatic control device D as before, acts to move the walls C, E of the wrapping well (now in the form of simple Walls, without the conveying devices) and to set other parts of the machine in accord ance with the diameter of the roll A to be wrapped. In this instance, however, although the outer wall E is still guided by a horizontal guide rail (omitted from FIGURE 4.for simplicity) to move at right angles to the constant central plane of the well, the inner wall C moves bodily in a direction parallel to that of the inclined ramp B, B the lever F now being connected to the inner wall C by a pivoted connecting rod F so that the horizontal component of its movement is equal and opposite to the movement of the outer wall E.

The pneumatic control device D also acts to position a stop member F within the well, so that it will lie at a dis-' tance equal to the roll diameter beneath a fixed datum line at the top of the well in the central vertical plane of the well. This stop member F serves to hold the roll A in the wrapping position within the top of the well, so that in such position the top of the roll will always coincide with the fixed datum line, whatever diameter the well may have. The movement of the inner well wall C in the direction of the plane of the inclined ramp B, B is desirable, as will be explained later, to give the correct feed of wrapping material, and for this purpose the plane of the ramp should be inclined to the horizontal at an angle of about 30 degrees.

The retractable head L normally occupies a position over the top of the well, with its front wall adjacent to the lower edge of the inclined ramp B, B so as to act as a stop for holding the roll in the gauging position on the lower end portion of the ramp, and is movable horizontally away from the ramp to uncover the well under the control of a pneumatic cylinder L The base of the retractable head L lies slightly above the fixed horizontal datum line.

The retractable head serves also to control the feed of the wrapping material. When the head is in its normal position, the free edge of the web H of wrapping material is gripped by a clamping device G, G which is located just beneath the lowermost edge of the inclined ramp B, B and is carried thereby. For this purpose, a clamping face G inclined more steeply to the horizontal than the ramp B, B itself is secured beneath the ramp and the moving member G of the clamp consists of a pivoted arm having a shaped end which engages with such clamping face with a wedging action to grip the wrapping material. The clamping arm is operated by a pneumatic cylinder G carried beneath the ramp. The wedging action can be obtained in various ways, but in the example illustrated the clamping arm G is suspended from the piston rod of the pneumatic cylinder G and abuts against a small circular stud G carried by the ramp B. From this clamping device G, G the wrapping material passes between the edge of the ramp B and the front face of the retractable head L, the lower portion. of the front face of the head having a shaped lip over which the wrapping material passes, and thence .over the top of the retractable head past a guide roller L carried by the head and fixed guide rollers H H H and a compensating roller H to the suply reel H from which the wrapping material is drawn. The compensating roller H is shown as suspended in a loop of the web H of wrapping material and serves to take up the slack in the web when the retractable head L is withdrawn.

The pneumatic cylinder L for controlling the movement of 'the retractable head L is operated by a suitable trip device when the various parts of the machine controlled by the gauging device have been properly set into .their operative positions dependent on the diameter of 7 the roll A. This causes the head to be withdrawn from the ramp B to permit the roll to move forward from the gauging position towards the well. As the head moves away from the ramp, the wrapping material is stretched across the path of the roll from the clamping device G, G so that the roll falls against the web and carries it with it towards the well. The movement of the retractable head L is stopped and reversed by means of a trip device L which is carried by the outer well Wall E and controls the pneumatic ram L so that the head is brought to rest with its front face over the outer well wall E in the operative position thereof. The roll therefore falls into the well, carrying the wrapping material with it, until it engages with the stop F therein, the roll thus being brought into the wrapping position with its top located at the fixed datum line. In this position (shown in FIGURE 4) the web H of wrapping material extends down from the clamping device G, G along the inner well Wall C and thence around the lower half of the periphery of the roll A and up along the outer well wall E and the front face of the retractable head L in its withdrawn position, thus completing the wrapping of the lower half of the periphery of the roll.

, The tripping device C which stops and reverses the withdrawing movement of the retractable head also causes the pneumatic cylinder G which controls the clamping device G, G to release the clamp and operates another pneumatic cylinder M to cause simultaneous longitudinal movement of two folder fingers M, so that such fingers move through slots C in the inner well wall C and engage with the released end of the web H of wrapping material to wrap it around part of the upper portion of the periphery of the roll. The two folder fingers M may, if desired, be connected together by a folder bar engaging with the wrapping material over the whole width of the web. Each finger M carries one end of a springy strip M the other end of which is coiled into the form of a spiral spring carried by the inner well wall C, these strips acting to assist in folding the wrapping material closely against the surface of the roll and also to minimise risk of the wrapping material being dragged off the roll surface when the folder fingers are Withdrawn.

It is important to ensure that the free edge of the wrapping material will lie at or close to the fixed datum line, so that the operative position of the clamping device G, G at the time of release should be at a vertical distance approximately equal to 1rR/2 above the horizontal plane through the axis of the roll, where R is the radius of the roll, that is above the horizontal plane through the fixed datum line, for all roll diameters. This is ensured by arranging that the plane of the inclined ramp B, B (which passes very close to the clamp G, G passes aproximately through the junction of the horizontal fixed datum line with the centre line of the Well and that the clamp moves in the direction of such plane, the inclination of the ramp to the horizontal being approximately equal to the angle whose tangent is such angle in fact being very slightly less than 30 degrees.

Meanwhile, the retractable head L has ben returning to its normal position and, in doing so, has been wrapping the web of wrapping material closely around the remainder of the upper part of the roll periphery, so that finally it overlaps the free edge of the wrapping material and grips such edge against the roll surface. When the return movement has been completed (as indicated in FIGURE 5), the folder fingers M are withdrawn by their actuating pneumatic cylinder M and a cutting device and a sealing device, which are housed within the interior of the retractable head L, are brought into action to sever the web of wrapping material and to apply adhesive tape along the overlapping edges to seal the wrapping in position. The adhesive on the tape may be of the type requiring wetting or alternatively of the self-adhesive type applied by pressure. If the wrapping material consists of thermoplastic material it will sometimes be preferable to effect such sealing by the application of heat along the overlapping edges. The sealing can also be effected, if desired, by applying an adhesive to the free edge of the web of wrapping material after this has been wrapped by the folder fingers around the roll surface and prior to the return movement of the retractable head, so that such re turn movement will itself complete the sealing by pressing the wrapping material tightly against the adhesive, after which the cutting is proceeded with.

In the example illustrated, the cutting device consists of a guillotine K operated by a pneumatic cylinder K mounted within the retractable head L. The sealing device comprises a reel K of adhesive tape, of width similar to that of the web of wrapping material, a wedge cam K operated by a pneumatic cylinder K for feeding forward a predetermined short length of tape from the reel and holding it clamped when fed forward, and a pivoted actuating plate K also extending for the full width of the web. This actuating plate K is moved forward, as soon as the retractable head L has completed its return movement to the advanced position, by a pneumatic cylinder K and is meanwhile held in position on the piston rod of such cylinder by a small auxiliary pneumatic cylinder K pivoted to such piston rod. During this movement, the actuating plate K severs the adhesive tape against a reaction plate K the severed portion of tape being held to the plate K by pneumatic suction device, part of the suction pipe being indicated at K The forward movement of the actuating plate continues until the roll A is engaged, the pneumatic force acting on the plate thus serving to hold the web of wrapping material tightly against the roll. At this stage, the guillotine K is advanced to sever the web and is withdrawn again, after which the auxiliary pneumatic cylinder K is operated to swing the actuating plate K about its pivot and thus to press the adhesive tape firmly into engagement over the overlapping edges of the web around the roll, the suction holding the tape to the plate being released. The actauting plate is then swung back and returned to its normal position, in readiness for further actuation of the wedge cam K to feed forward another length of tape. It is assumed, in this description, that the adhesive on the tape is of the self-adhesive type applied by pressure, but if it is preferred to employ an adhesive requiring wetting,. a movable wetting device may be incorporated to web the tape during the forward movement of the actuating plate.

It is to be noted that the return movement of the retracable head draws furher wrapping material from the supply reel, in readiness for the wrapping of the next roll, and the fact that the web is in tension ensures a tight grip of the wrapping material on the surface of the roll and on the free edge of the web which it overlaps. In order to prevent the compensating roller H from pulling the web back when it has been severed by the cutting device, it is desirable to provide a clamp L for clamping the web H to the top of the retractable head L. Such clamp may be operated pneumatically simultaneously with the cutting device or alternatively may be of the spring-urged wedge type, which will allow the wrapping material to be freely drawn through it in one direction, namely from the supply reel, but will automatically lock the wrapping material against movement through the clamp in the opposite direction.

The shape of the lower part of the front wall of the retractable head L is made such that it will direct the severed end of the web H towards the clamping device G, G beneath the inclined ramp. Thus, the front wall of the head has a reentrant portion into which the lower edge of the ramp B projects, so that the severed free end will be in a position in which it will be picked up and tightly gripped by the clamping device, when such device is operated in readiness for the wrapping of the next roll. It will be appreciated that the amount of wrapping material held in the clamping device (in conjunction with the height of the clamping device above the datum line) will determine the amountof overlap between the two free edges of the material on the wrapped roll. In the interests of economy in wrapping material, it is desirable to reduce the amount of overlap to a minimum, but the desirable minimum difiers for different types of wrapping material, and it is useful therefore to provide an adjustment for determining the amount of overlap in a particular case. This can most easily be effected by controlling the amount of wrapping material which is gripped in the clamping device. For this purpose, a movable roller (not shown) may be provided for engaging the web between two fixed guide rollers, the movable roller, when adjusted, thus producing a loop of appropriate size in the web, thus varying the amount of the web which projects from the lower part of the front wall of the retractable head into the path of the moving clamping member G It has been found in practice that, with the slight clearances necessary to allow the roll to fall freely into the wrapping position in the well, there is sometimes a tendency for the tension on the web of wrapping material, when the retractable head moves into its advanced position, to cause the roll to rotate somewhat about its own axis and thus to pull back the free end of the web, so that there will be only a very small overlap or even none at all. This can best be prevented by using the well walls to grip the roll and for this purpose the arrangement may be modified as indicated in FIGURE 6.

In this modification a further pneumatic cylinder is provided, which is operated at the beginning of the return movement of the retractable head into its advanced position to apply an inward clamping pressure on the walls C, E of the well. This can be effected in various ways, but in the arrangementshown in FIGURE 6, the pneumatic cylinder F instead of being fixed in position is connected to an intermediate point of a lever N pivoted about a fixed pivot N and the additional pneumatic cylinder N acts on the free end of the lever. Thus, during setting of the well walls under the contol of the gauging device, the cylinder N merely acts as an abutment, and the walls are set to give the necessary slight clearance to permit the roll to fall properly into the well. At the 1 beginning of the return stroke of the retractable head,

the cylinder N is operated to exert pressure on the lever N and thus to cause the well walls C, E to take up the slight clearance and to exert a gripping pressure on the roll, thus holding it firmly in position during the wrapping of the upper portion of the roll and the subsequent cutting and sealing operation. The cylinder N is released when this operation is completed, to free the wrapped roll, so that it can be discharged from the wrapping position.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing constructions have been described by way of example only, and that the invention may be carried into practice in other ways. Thus, although it is preferred to move both walls of the well to suit the roll diameter, this is not essential to the invention and one wall may be held stationary whilst the other moves so as to be spaced from the stationary wall by a distance equal to the roll diameter.

Again, the first construction, wherein the wrapping material is cut to length prior to release of the roll into the well may be modified to effect the wrapping of the upper half of the roll periphery otherwise than by the conveyer device described. Thus, for instance, the roll may be arrested in the wrapping position in the top of the well, and the upper half of the periphery may be wrapped with the roll in this position by means of two sets of folder fingers, respectively movable inwardly from thetops of the two well walls, prior to sealing the overlapping edges of the wrapping material, thus folded into position.

Further, in the second construction, which differs from the first primarily in that the roll in its passage to the wrapping position draws from the supply as much of the wrapping material as is needed for wrapping its periphery and the web of wrapping material is not severed until after the roll periphery has been wrapped, it is not essential to make use of the retractable head arrangement forming the subject of the concurrent United States patent application Serial No. 298,046, filed July 29, 1963 above mentioned. Thus, the retractable head may be dispensed with altogether, the roll being arrested in the gauging position by means of a catch which is released at the appropriate point in the cycle of operations to permit the roll to move forward to the wrapping position, whilst the wrapping material is drawn across the top of the well, prior to such release, by the clamping device which is itself movable across the top of the wall or part thereof in order to receive the severed end of the web after operation of the cutting device, folder fingers being utilised for wrapping the upper part of the roll periphery in the manner above described.

Again, although the control device has been described as a pneumatic control device, it will be clear that the control may alternatively be effected hydraulically or electrically or mechanically, if desired.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A wrapping machine for enclosing a roll in wrapping material, including in combination a gauging device for measuring the diameter of the roll to be. wrapped, a wrapping well having relatively movable side walls, means whereby the gauging device causes relative movement between the side walls of the well to position them to suit the diameter of the roll, means: for feeding the roll from the gauging device into the well, means for causing the wrapping material to extend across the path of the roll, whereby the roll will carry the wrapping material with it into the well thereby causing the wrapping material to be closely wrapped around the lower portion of the periphery of the roll, and means for completing the wrapping of the peripheral surface of the roll.

2. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 1, in which the two side walls of the well are parallel to one another and remain parallel during the positioning relative movement.

3. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 2, including means whereby the centre plane of the well between the two side walls remains constant during the positioning relative movement, such movement being effected by causing the two side walls to perform movements having equal and opposite components in the direction at right I angles to such centre plane.

4. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 3, including an inclined ramp the lower part of which lies above one of the movable side walls of the well and down which the roll runs in its movement to the well, and means whereby at least part of the inclined ramp is withdrawn following operation of the gauging device to permit the roll to be correctly fed to the well.

5. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 2, including an inclined ramp which is carried by one of the side walls of the well and down which the roll runs in its movement to the well, and means whereby the positioning movement of such wall under the control of the gauging device -is caused to take place in an inclined direction parallel to the inclination of the ramp.

6. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 1, including means whereby a piece of Wrapping material of length appropriate to the circumference of the roll is positioned across the top of the well prior to the movement of the roll from the gauging device into the well.

7. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 6, including a supply reel from which a web of the wrapping material is drawn, a cutting device for cutting a length from such web, means for feeding such web across the top of the well, and means for positioning the cutting device and the web feeding means in accordance with the circumference of the roll under the control of the gauging device, whereby the correct length is cut from the web and is correctly positioned over the well prior to the movement of the roll into the well.

8. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 1, including a supply reel from which a web of the wrapping material is drawn, a clamping device for gripping the free end of the web during the downward movement of the roll into the well, a cutting device, and means for operating such cutting device to cut the web to length after completion of the movement of the roll to the wrapping position in the well.

9. A wrapping machine as' claimed in claim 1, including a stop device for arresting the roll in a wrapping position in the well, and means for positioning such stop device in accordance with the roll diameter under the control of the gauging device, whereby the top of the roll lies substantially at a fixed datum level whatever its diameter may be.

10. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 9, including a supply reel from which a web of the wrapping material is drawn, a clamping device for gripping the free end of such web, a retractable head which has an advanced position and a withdrawn position and controls the feeding of the web from the supply reel, means whereby in its withdrawn position the retractable head lies clear of the feed path of the roll from the gauging device into the well on the side of such feed path remote from the gauging device.

11. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 10, including means for releasing the clamping device when the roll is in its wrapping position in the well, at least one folder member, rneans for moving such folder member to fold the free end of the web released from the clamping device over part of the upper portion of the periphery of .the roll, and means for moving the retractable head into its advanced position over the well and thereby completing the Wrapping of the upper portion of the roll.

12. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 11, including a cutting device, means for operating the cutting device after completion of the wrapping of the upper portion of the head to sever the web of wrapping material at a position such that the severed end will overlap the 12 free end of the web in the neighbourhood of the top of the roll, and a sealing device for applying adhesive tape to secure such overla' pping ends together.

13. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 12, including means for applying inward pressure to at least one of the walls of the well to clamp the roll against movement and to maintain tight enclosure of the lower portion of the roll surface in the wrapping material during at least part of the wrapping of the upper portion of the roll.

14. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 1, including a supply reel from which a web of the wrapping material is drawn, a clamping device for gripping the free end of the web, means whereby when the roll has moved into a wrapping position in the well inward pressure is applied to at least one of the walls of the well to clamp the roll against movement with the lower portion of its surface tightly enclosed in the Wrapping material, means for releasing the free end of the web from the clamping device and folding it over part of the upper surface of the roll, means for folding the web of wrapping material over the remaining part of the upper surface of the roll, and means for cutting the web when the wrapping of the surface of the roll has been completed.

15. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 14, including a retractable head for controlling the feeding of the web of wrapping material from the supply reel, such retractable head having an advanced position in which it lies over the top of the well and a withdrawn position in which it lies on the side of the well remote from the clamping device, and means for moving the retractable head from either of its two operative positions to the other, whereby the movement of the head into its advanced position effects the completion of the wrapping of the upper portion of the roll.

16. A wrapping machine as claimed in claim 15, in which the retractable 'head in its advanced position acts as a stop to arrest the roll in its movement towards the well, whereby the movement of the head into its withdrawn position draws the web of wrapping material across the path of the roll and allows the roll to move with such wrapping material into the well.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,639,567 5/1953 Murdoch et a1. 5366 2,919,527 l/l960 Smith et a1. 5366 TRAVIS S. MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner. 

1. A WRAPPING MACHINE FOR ENCLOSING A ROLL IN WRAPING MATERIAL, INCLUDING IN COMBINATION A GAUGING DEVICE FOR MEASURING THE DIAMETER OF THE ROLL TO BE WRAPPED, A WRAPPING WELL HAVING RELATIVELY MOVABLE SIDE WALLS, MEANS WHEREBY THE GAUGING DEVICE CAUSES RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE SIDE WALLS OF THE WELL TO POSITION THEM TO SUIT THE DIAMETER OF THE ROLL, MEANS FOR FEEDING THE ROLL FROM THE GAUGING DEVICE INTO THE WELL, MEANS FOR CAUSING THE WRAPPING MATERIAL TO EXTEND ACROSS THE PATH OF THE ROLL, WHEREBY THE ROLL WILL CARRY THE WRAPPING MATERIAL WITH IT INTO THE WELL THEREBY CAUSING THE WRAPPING MATERIAL TO BE CLOSELY WRAPPED AROUND THE LOWER PORTION OF THE PERIPHERY OF THE ROLL, AND MEANS FOR COMPLETING THE WRAPPING OF THE PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF THE ROLL. 